Dead Stars: Becoming Hinode
by Chantrea Moonbeam
Summary: FutureFic: Hinode knew nothing of war, of her parents or of her powerful bloodline. She unknowingly threatens her own life, leading to the redemption of a family and the healing of shattered hearts.
1. Prologue

Summary: Hinode knew nothing of war, of her parents or of her powerful bloodline. She unknowingly threatens her own life, leading to the redemption of a family and the healing of shattered hearts.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own everything else in this story.

**A/N: **Okay. Since I really really want to go back into writing and restart my pace and this story won't leave my head, I finally decided to make a multichapter version of "Dead Stars". This is also a companion fic to "Turning Point." I hope you will like it too.

* * *

**Dead Stars**

**Becoming Hinode**

oOo

_Stars burst with an intensity that ripples through limitless galaxies. So vast is their power that once they die, their light continues to burn, affecting those that thread in their path. And people keep on living, never knowing that this overflowing presence is no more than an illusion of something that has ended forever…_

oOo

**Prologue:**

You are a ninja of the village of Konoha.

You know of the 5th Great Shinobi War that has gone on for more than decade now. A war that started so abruptly, that no one knew how it came about.

But you love stories, and you find every opportunity to hear good ones from your neighbours, team-mates and friends.

And you kept in your memory tales of the 5th Great Shinobi War.

You heard some adults say that the war has always been there, just played under closed doors. You heard others speak of a cursed family, whose blood would forever bring forth only pain and discord. You heard about foolish bonds that backfired. Of the casualties that claimed the lives of people with so much promise.

You heard of the 7th Hokage's mandate, declaring a state of emergency on the Shinobi village of Konoha. You heard how civilians were taken to an extremely protected area, surrounded by sealed walls. You heard that the place is so protected that the people living there are unaware of the war.

You find yourself curious of this walled location that you start running there almost daily. Everyday, you stroll around the fences, pushing your way through thick brambles and stubborn hedges. You do not care that you go home with scratches at night. All you dream about is finding a way into that forbidden place, and you wake up tired and sleepy but eager to find something new that day.

One day, you are surprised that you are not alone. Far into the thick natural barriers, you see someone sitting on a giant upturned root. You see very determined and caring eyes fixed upon the sealed wall. For some reason, you find yourself afraid to make your presence known. There was something disconcerting about that person, a powerful aura that demands solitude. So you acquiesce to your gut feeling and choose to turn back. But you know that compared to that person, you have a far different reason for being there. That person is not curious about the wall, you conclude. That person has a connection with someone over that wall. A powerful connection as your instinct claims.

The next day, you rush to the place you've been before. You look around, and you sense no presence. You are relieved and you approach the wall.

It is as imposing as it was before. After scanning, you find no weak links. Disappointed you climb to the root you saw that person sat on before. As you climb, you realise that you can somehow see over the wall.

The wall was higher than the houses inside, but beside the wall you see someone, and you lean closer to have a better look.

You see a very young girl facing the wall. You see her bouncing a ball and when you listen carefully, you could hear her humming. But what drew you to her was her strange hair colour.

You wonder how anyone could have pink hair. And then, you remember a tale told so many years ago, about a woman who had so much promise, whose life was chronicled in the series of war tragedies.

That woman had pink hair...

You were wondering if they could be related when the little girl looked up. For a minute, your eyes meet and you become tense. Them you remember that part of the seal's function was to create an illusion so that the people inside would not see the imposing forest that protects them.

She cannot see you at all.

You find yourself entranced by beautiful emerald eyes, but feel unnerved at the hollowness beneath them. She threw the ball high and suddenly kicked it to the fence. There was a loud thump and you can feel a fluctuation of chakra.

And you remember a rumour…you wonder if it is possible…

Suddenly, someone grabbed you from behind. You recognized them as ANBU and protest that you were doing nothing wrong. They do not answer you; instead, they dragged you back to the Hokage's palace.

Once you arrive, you continued to insist you did nothing wrong. Then you see the person you had seen the day before. You start ranting and pointing at that person.

You scream at the injustice. You try appealing at the Hokage.

The person looked back at you blankly. The Hokage turned and told the person that they would speak of this later.

Two ANBU held you down and another knelt before you.

"You have seen something you shouldn't have seen."

He began several hand seals as you struggled, as his palms touched your face, you scream.

You felt like your head was being licked by flames as you struggled to break free.

You feel your arms grow limp, and your body falling forward…

And your sight grows dim…

…

…

…

The next day, you find yourself in your room. The heavy midmorning sunlight did nothing to help your huge headache.

A family member told you that you had an accident in the forbidden forest and you were found by patrolling shinobi. You were told that you are never to come back there and that you were lucky you only hit your head. You were scolded to be more responsible and to imagine the shame of dying because of clumsiness and stupidity instead of glory in defending the village.

You have forgotten about what you saw over the wall.

You have forgotten about the little girl with piercing emerald eyes.

But you can remember another story shared in hushed tones.

The story of an avenger and a healer, of a love lost, found, shared and ended.

You eerily wonder why this story keeps popping in your mind.

You do not know that that story has not ended.

You did not realise that you just glimpsed the continuity of their story.

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**A/N: **Sooo. how is it? I've always wanted to write in 2nd person! I can't believe I just did. :)

If you like it and want me to continue, please review. Reviews inspire me to write, and I get partly depressed when a lot of people read and I have no idea what they thought of it, it makes me think I wrote a monstrosity. A smiley or a hi will be enough.


	2. The First Ending

Summary: Hinode knew nothing of war, of her parents or of her powerful bloodline. She unknowingly threatens her own life, leading to the redemption of a family and the healing of shattered hearts.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own everything else in this story.

* * *

**Dead Stars**

**Becoming Hinode**

oOo

_Stars burst with an intensity that ripples through limitless galaxies. So vast is their power that once they die, their light continues to burn, affecting those that thread in their path. And people keep on living, never knowing that this overflowing presence is no more than an illusion of something that has ended forever…_

oOo

In the greater scheme of things, my existence is just a subplot. But it is still a story and all stories have a beginning, middle and an end.

When someone asks you to tell your life story, where do you start? Often enough you start on the day you were born. But of course, you can't really tell what happened. You only know what others have told you. And, in essence, it is their story, although it is still yours. Thinking within these lines, you can never say where your story starts, you yourself have to make that choice.

To tell my story, I have to trace back to several generations, to the founding of the ninja world itself. But you already know the story of the legend of the Sage of the six paths and his two sons. We move forward and recall another page in history, of Uchiha Madara and the founding of Konoha, and the genocide of a powerful clan.

My story continues with three people: my father, my mother and their best friend. And years later, with the birth of a girl who will bring about the end of our story.

oOo

**The First Ending**

oOo

Ironically, this story starts with the person I spent most of my life hating. And it's not that hard to hate Uchiha Sasuke. He had everything. He had been loved so deeply. But he threw everything away to obey his sick logic. But it is difficult not to love him either. He is a victim of so many manipulations; the kind person that flickers subtly through the facade can't be seen.

But on that fateful day so many years ago, my father's façade completely crumbled. I believe he felt that anguish only twice before. The first time was during the massacre. The second was when he realized my uncle, Uchiha Itachi's, sacrifice.

Minutes before, there was fierce determination in is eyes. But when it was finally apparent that the person he held no longer breathed, he just foze. Voices had called to him, but he didn't move. There were no tears, there was no sound.

He didn't evade the punch and his right cheek was red and swollen. The wall behind him cracked, but my father didn't flinch. His eyes were hollow.

There were tears from the blond who had punched him, his clenched fist bruised.

"Sasuke..." Uncle Naruto was shaking. "There's no use...she's..."

Seeing the man Mother has described as a fervent optimistic suddenly become so hopeless finally broke my own self control. I looked at lifeless body. I wished I had been stronger.

All my life we had been hiding. Mother had tried her best to explain why. My father had done cruel things in the past, she said. And not all were forgiven. And my father possesses something powerful, she adds. That's why our lives are in danger. Sometimes, tears would flow down her cheeks. She would apologize and hug me. I would hug her back. It is not her fault, I assured her. She would smile gratefully, but I could still the tears she tries to hide from me.

Nevertheless, we were able to live a semblance of a happy family despite the constant hiding. I could even remember my father smiling at times.

Sometimes, Mother would tell of the village she had left behind. While my father is from a known Ninja family, my mother came from a civilian family. The Haruno family were notable merchants in the Land of Fire's history. They were obscurely related to the royal family and this connection has ensured the family's success for generations. But decades passed and many wars later, the family fortune dwindled.

The land where Konoha stands now, used to belong to the Haruno and that was why Mother's family still lives there.

Mother had laughed and said that her family had been resentful of shinobi. But Mother disobeyed her grandfather and decided to study to become a ninja. Her family has complained about the disgrace of the Haruno but didn't do anything about it. Mother had decided to do something to bring honour to her family, and even though it was hard, Mother had said she never regretted her choice.

She had been happiest being a ninja, she shared. There were hard times, but she met her most precious people because of that choice. When she says this, she would glance at my father and smile.

But Mother's fears finally caught up. Dangerous men came and attacked us. She and Father fought bravely. They won with a price.

A mother will always protect her children, even if it means ending her personal story.

In the years that would follow and I find myself doubting my father's emotional capacity, I would look back at this moment. His empty eyes were fixed at Mother's lifeless body, and I could see just how much Mother meant to him.

The silence and escalating tension in the room was broken by the sound of tiny footsteps, making the two men notice that they are not alone.

A little girl stood before her father, her emerald eyes glistening under her tears. For a minute, the father was transfixed at the face that was a clear mirror of his beloved.

"I'm sorry."

And Uchiha Sasuke looked away.

"Chichi!"

"It's not her fault Sasuke!" Uncle Naruto held the little girl who implored her father to look at her. "Hinode is just a child, for God's sake!"

What he thought aboout in the silence that followed, I could not really say. It may have been about Mother's final words. It may be about their final promise. Maybe that was why he called Uncle Naruto aside. I could see that Unce Naruto disagreed with what my father thought. His protests were loud but my father was firm.

The next time father and daughter gazed at each other; the father's eyes were a spinning red.

The little girl was asleep, tears in her eyes.

And it would be years before we saw my father again.

That day has impacted many lives, and although the little girl will not remember what happened, her father looking away was a scar she kept her all life.

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**A/N:** So how's the story so far? If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, please review.


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